INTERVIEW-ARM sets stage in netbook market with new models
TAIPEI, June 1 (Reuters) - British chip designer ARM (ARM.L) said on Monday four to five PC makers will introduce a total of 6 new netbook models using its processors this year, as it tries to establish a foothold in the fast-growing, low-cost laptop sector.
The company also hopes ARM-based netbooks will make up 20-30 percent share of the netbook market next year, taking on chip giant Intel (INTC.O), whose Atom processors dominate the netbook market now.
"It's just a beginning and we are starting from a zero base," ARM Executive Vice President Mike Inglis told Reuters in an interview in Taipei during the week of Computex, the world's second-biggest PC trade fair.
The PC makers that make ARM netbooks this year include Taiwan's Wistron (3231.TW) and Pegatron, and ARM expects to see at least 20 new ARM-based netbook models next year, Inglis said.
"For lower-end products, China is a big opportunity," said Inglis, who joined ARM in 2002 and is also general manager of the company's processor division.
While Intel Corp dominates the PC world, ARM designs processor cores for chips that power about 90 percent of the world's cellphones, and it earns licence fees when semiconductor makers agree to make chips based on its designs and royalties.
(US$1=T$32.7)
(Reporting by Baker Li; Editing by Lee Chyen Yee)
((baker.li@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2508-0815; Reuters messaging: baker.li.reuters.com@reuters.net))
((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)) Keywords: COMPUTEX/ARM
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